Time is of the Essence
by aliciajay
Summary: Just because. The Three Musketeers are so awesome, YEAHHH! And I love D'Artagnan too! Hilarity ensues when the time continuum between 1973 and 2012 is disrupted. (ON HIATUS - EDIT IN PROCESS)
1. Chapter 1

Everything had been a blur. One moment, I had just opened the door to my basement. The next ... well, the next moment, I'd stepped in, and suddenly the ground seemed to give way beneath my feet, and I fell into darkness ...

I shook my head, still feeling rather groggy and lightheaded, then looked around me. I was lying on a field of grass, and above me was the clear blue cloudless sky. Where was I?

I gave myself a pinch to make sure I wasn't dreaming. I wasn't. The ground was hard and solid beneath my feet, and the grass rustled slightly as it parted beneath my feet ... I looked closer. My old shoes were gone. They were replaced with low-heeled boots. And I was no longer wearing the T-shirt and jeans I had just a while ago. I gasped as I looked at the extremely beautiful pink dress I was now wearing. (However, I still had to refrain from an expression of disgust at how girly I must have looked).

_Marian has just turned into a little princess, waiting for her handsome prince to come fetch her on a white horse ..._ an irritable part of my brain teased. I hurriedly crushed my train of thought. _Must focus on getting out of here alive and well, _I thought as I began to take stock of my surroundings. _Especially when there is no one here..._

All around me was green grass. Behind me the green extended as far as my eye could see, until it met the blue sky in purple mountains. No good there. But far off to my right, I could see thin spires in the distance, somewhat blurred by fog.

_A city!_

There I would go then. And when I got there, I would have to figure out how to get back home.

I began scaling the small hill in front of me, stopping every now and then to prevent from tripping over my ridiculously long skirts. As I climbed, I pondered.

How had I gotten here in the first place ... from my basement? I had been _at home, _with my parents and siblings, so no one could have kidnapped me ... but it seemed rather likely. I certainly felt fine, though. I checked my arms and legs - no bruises or injuries of any kind. Nothing had happened, then. I breathed a sigh of relief.

But then, what _had _happened?

My train of thought was cut off then, but not by myself. In that moment, I had nearly tripped and fell over a large bundle of red cloth lying in the tall grass.

I looked down - and immediately regretted it.

It was not a bundle of cloth. It was ... the mangled body of a man.

A now _dead_ man.

A shrill scream split the silence, and I barely realized that it was coming from me. I turned and ran in a different direction, only to find my progress impeded by more bodies. I had stumbled into a battlefield, filled with the losing army.

A horrible smell wafted up in the air, but I kept running, even though I was sobbing for breath. Death was everywhere - it was all around me, in the air. Desperately, I ran, trying to escape, but what if it caught me -

It felt as if I had been running for an eternity, in that silent, death-filled place. But gradually I realized that there was another sound in the air. A sound of ... a horse's hooves pounding the ground. Getting nearer to me. I could not risk getting caught. I was just a girl in this lonely place. I tried to coax more speed into my legs, but I was already so tired ... Suddenly my legs buckled underneath me, and I fell to the ground, as my brain screamed, _NOOO!_

The clopping of the horse's hooves got even closer, then stopped.

I was caught now. There would be no escape. So this was how it would end?

I turned around and looked up ...


	2. Chapter 2

I turned around and looked up ... into a pair of warm brown eyes. They belonged to a young man, about eighteen or nineteen (not much older than me). All right, so he _was _incredibly handsome. As was his white horse. But still, even if he did seem like a nice person on first sight, I was not the type to trust in people immediately.

"Do you need help?" he asked, extending a hand to me.

"No, thank you," I said, getting up (or trying to get up) myself. But no sooner had I teetered precariously to my feet that I suddenly felt weak again... Argh!~ I was going to land none too gently on the floor, but a strong arm around me broke my fall. I cracked first one eye open, then the other - but I immediately regretted that too, for I found myself pressed close against the handsome young man - extremely close, I might add. Those brown eyes of his were looking back at mine ... I hurriedly broke eye contact and pushed him, but he didn't let go.

"Th-thank you," I said shakily, not looking at him (and turning away to hide the blush that was surely forming on my cheeks). "But I think I can manage."

"Really?" he said, rather amusedly, which only served to infuriate me. "And let you walk by yourself? All right." He began to loosen his arm from around me. YESSS! I could walk by myself at last - wait, I could not! I suddenly found myself holding on to him for dear life as he laughed.

_Ugh. These handsome guys, they're all the same. Such big egos, every one._

I noticed his clothes were rather old-fashioned, and that he carried a _sword _... come to think of it, it reminded me of the outfits I had seen in that movie _The Three Musketeers, _about seven years ago. That certainly was a good movie ... I stopped short, and looked at the young man closely. He looked back at me closely.

"Wait ... you look familiar," I said. Then it hit me. "You're D'Artagnan, the Musketeer!"

"How did you know?" he asked, a bit pleased at my antics. "I didn't know I was that well known ..."

"But I saw you in a movie! Everyone did! You're famous!"

"What is a 'movie,' anyway?" D'Artagnan scoffed. "Whatever that is, I would probably never be _in _one ..."

I looked at him in growing shock. "Wait ... so you don't even know what a movie is?" I squeaked. "You're not an actor?" He gave me a strange look. I tried again. "All right then, what year is it?"

"1973, of course."

My resounding shout of "WHAAAAAAT!?" could have roused dead men from their graves.


End file.
